Cave explorer Elon Musk called a 'pedo guy' is preparing a lawsuit
- Vernon Unsworth, a British cave explorer who was assisting in the rescue of a Thai youth soccer team trapped in a cave, criticized Elon Musk's mini-submarine plan for being "not practical."
- Musk went on a Twitter tirade against Unsworth calling him a "pedo guy," among other negative words.
- Now Unsworth has retained a lawyer and is preparing a lawsuit.
Elon Musk's controversial tweets about one of the Thai youth soccer team rescuers may have him in legal hot water.
Vernon Unsworth, a British cave explorer who was assisting in the rescue of a Thai youth soccer team trapped in a cave in July, is preparing a civil complaint for libel against Musk, according to a letter to Musk from Unsworth's attorney sent to CNBC. The letter is dated Aug. 6.
Musk blasted Unsworth on Twitter, calling him a "pedo guy" among other disparaging words, after Unsworth criticized his mini-submarine plan to help rescue the trapped team. The cave explorer told CNN in July that the mini-submarine Musk was constructing "had absolutely no chance of working."
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO apologized, but brought up the controversy again Tuesday by tweeting "it's strange he hasn't sued me? He was offered free legal services."
Unsworth's attorney called Musk's tweets "false and defamatory" in the letter. He called on Musk's legal counsel to contact him in order to avoid litigation and to correct the allegedly false statements.
Tesla was not immediately available for comment.